


i love the way

by preciousthings



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 4 times + 1 time, M/M, Sharing Clothes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-08
Updated: 2013-10-08
Packaged: 2017-12-28 19:31:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/995687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/preciousthings/pseuds/preciousthings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>four times calum didn't do anything about luke wearing his clothes and one time he did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i love the way

**Author's Note:**

> weeeeell this has been a long time coming. the amount of times i've dropped this fic and started again is ridiculous but its finally done! it's a lil short but i really like the way it came out. pretty much every piece of clothing mentioned in here has actually been worn by luke and calum except the hoodie annnnd the red beanie but i'm sure luke has worn the red beanie at some point. 
> 
> unedited, lack of capitalization, i don't own anything. title from "the way" by ariana grande and mac miller.
> 
> this is for courtney :) it probably wouldn't exist without you and i hope it makes you smile!

**one;**

the first time it happens, it's not something calum thinks about much. there are other things to think about at the time.

the take me home tour is starting in england and calum still can't believe this is his life. he's thousands of miles away from home, with his best friends, touring england (then america) with the biggest boyband in the world, playing shows to sold out crowds of thousands of people every night. to think a year ago they were still getting used to ashton, and practicing in michael's bedroom. they're playing the fucking O2 now. he's thinking about that.

he's not thinking about what he wants to wear on stage or which bass he's going to use, or even their set list for that night (it's the same as the night before, and the one before that). he's certainly not thinking thinking about what his bandmates are wearing or what they're doing. definitely not about luke.

and then luke walks into the dressing room wearing a t shirt that cal swears luke doesn't own. and he's thinking about it. the shirt's not luke's, it's  _his._  he's definitely thinking about it. he chokes on his redbull and then he's coughing, gasping, trying to catch his breath again.

"see something you like, cal?" michael grins cheekily.

"no. just swallowed the drink too fast." calum states simply. because that's exactly what happened. luke has nothing to do with choking on his drink. nothing at all. luke wearing his ice cream cone t shirt has nothing to do with this. it's just a shirt.

**two;**

the next time it happens, the uk tour is just coming to an end. he's laying on a couch somewhere backstage in nottingham. he's been feeling shitty the past few days so he's finding little hidden areas of arenas to take power naps in and not be interrupted. that plan works until it doesn't work anymore. there's faint yelling down the hall, that gets louder and louder until luke is standing breathless and laughing in the doorway of the room cal's in with a water gun in one hand and a full water bottle in the other. 

"what the hell...?" cal asks when luke hides behind the couch he's laying on.

"water gun fight. me and ash vs. louis, niall and josh. someone gave louis and niall a box of like ten supersoakers and they're looking for me. i need to fill up, though. 

he hears more yelling, a "he's definitely down here!" from louis, and niall cursing at louis because his "bloody knee" hurts and it's all louis' fault. if calum didn't have a pounding headache before he definitely does now. 

"is luke in here?" niall asks when he barges into the room, louis and josh close behind him. 

"haven't seen him," cal lies. 

"him and ashton are one man down and we have more water guns back in the dressing room." josh says. 

"and you might actually help them not get their arses completely kicked." louis remarks in typical louis fashion. 

luke pops up from behind the couch then, "time out." 

louis pulls the trigger on his gun and the stream of water hits luke's face. "no can do, hemmo. we've got a battle to win." 

"let the kid talk, tommo." niall interjects. 

"yeah, tommo, let me talk," luke mocks, rubbing at his eye, "can we just not do this in here? cal hasn't been feeling well the past few days and yeah. so, like. not in here? please?" 

louis takes off first, josh following quickly, and niall leaves last, but not before smirking, "it's on."

"thanks." calum mumbles, closing his eyes to powernap before he has to get his hair done or soundcheck..

"no problem," luke grins, and then he's out of the room too, running in the direction that louis, josh and niall just went in.

calum wakes up an hour later. he's completely disoriented and has to really think to remember where he is. backstage. nottingham. he hears yelling again and he's reminded of the headache he still hasn't gotten rid of, and of the water gun fight.

calum wants to have a word with whoever gave louis tomlinson a box of supersoakers.

he wanders back to where the dressing rooms are, figuring they're going to start soundchecking soon and he needs to be there for that. he doesn't expect to walk into the crossfire of a water gun fight that's seemingly grown since he went to sleep. harry's got one now, and so does michael. they must be a team. he ducks and runs to the other side of the room to escape louis because he's trying  _so hard_ to get calum. 

"it's on hemmings," louis says, and calum doesn't know what's on or why it's on with luke, but louis sounds like he's not playing around. calum wants to shake his shoulders and tell him that it's just water guns, but luke seems to be taking this with the same seriousness that louis is. 

"oh, hey, calum's back!" luke says, pulling the trigger on his water gun and obviously trying to distract louis, but failing, because calum sprints to their dressing room and hides behind the wall, only sticking his head out of the doorframe to watch when he hears yelling. he would expect something like this out of 5 year olds, not 16 to 21 year olds in bands. it's the most amusing thing he's seen on this tour so far, and he's seen a lot. 

cal watches the end of the fight, until louis has his water gun forcibly taken from him by paul (god bless him, honestly), and the one direction boys go to soundcheck. ashton, luke, and michael keep at it with the water guns until they're empty, and it's a miracle that calum makes it out without getting wet at all considering it all happens in the dressing room. 

the other three are soaked, though, completely drenched from their waists up, mainly. ashton was smart and ditched his shirt before they'd started, and michael was able to grab one of harry's dry ones because lord knows how many white t-shirts that kid has backstage, but luke's not so lucky. they soundcheck in wet shirts and cal laughs at them because they're all cold and miserable.

"cal, cal, calum, cal," luke pokes at calum's side from where he's laying on the couch in the dressing room. 

"what, lucas?" cal asks. 

"did you bring an extra shirt today? i didn't have time to put one in my backpack and pretty much everything i own's in the wash and my shirt is basically a wet towel at this point." 

"yeah, there's a nirvana shirt in my backpack. ask michael where he put it because he had it last."

calum must fall asleep again because he gets woken up with a stuffed penguin to the face. "the fuck was that for?"

luke laughs, and smirks, "we're going on stage soon and we can't do it without our bassist." 

"but hitting me with a fucking penguin was necessary." 

"yes," luke grins, "wake up sleepyhead. you've slept too much today."

"i'm sick!" calum protests. he sits up and looks at luke. he forgot luke put his shirt on. he's thinking about it again, just like the last time. definitely thinking about it. it's just a shirt.

he finds himself repeating that in his head a lot. _it's just a shirt._

maybe it's just a shirt, but he just looks good in it. like it was made for him, maybe. he might actually look better in it than calum does and it's calum's shirt. luke in his shirt is making him feel things, he doesn't know what kind of things, but weird, new things that's he's not sure he's supposed to be feeling because it's just a shirt. and it's just his best friend.

"looking good, cal. considering you're sick and everything." luke winks playfully.

"you look good too." calum says quietly. 

luke just looks really good in his clothes, calum decides. it's just unfair. it kind of makes his stomach do this weird thing. butterflies, maybe. it's a weird feeling and he doesn't know if he likes it or even if he wants it to stay. 

calum just wants luke to keep wearing his clothes, as weird as it may sound.

**three** **;**

long breaks are calum's favorite times, especially when the time off is in australia. their time off there always feel natural, because it's the place where they grew up, it's what they're familiar with, and it's where they're most comfortable. it's not odd for the boys to leave their house one day and not come back for days at a time. even though they're home and can be with their families, they all like being together. 

calum and luke have been going back and forth between each other's houses the entire break and calum wonders how luke's not sick of him yet. they spend so much time together, it would only make sense. they're currently on the sixth day of seeing no one but each other, and they're at calum's house. they're marathoning avengers movies, and they're on the incredible hulk with only three movies left, when luke starts falling asleep. he's curled up with calum on calum's bed, and he lays his head on calum's shoulder and yawns.

"tired?" calum mumbles, reaching over luke for the remote. he pauses the movie. 

"a little. think i'm getting sick." luke coughs, covering his face with his hands.

"you are. d'you wanna sleep? are you sure you wanna sleep over here?" 

 "could use a good cuddle." 

calum nods and gets off the bed and says, "'m gonna go downstairs for a second and then we can go to sleep." 

he runs downstairs to grab a water bottle and to tell his mum that luke's sleeping over again, and when he gets back upstairs the tv's playing a rerun of friends and luke's curled up in bed wearing one of calum's hoodies. he looks so little for someone luke's size, it's kind of adorable. calum slides into bed next to luke and wraps his arms around him. they're laying so calum's chest is to luke's back, and luke curls in on himself a little bit more. 

"are you sure you wanna stay? it's fine if you want to go home. i know you're sick." calum whispers.

"shut up and hold me. i'm not that sick, 'm just cold and you're making me warmer. less talking, more cuddling." luke says. calum thinks he might be a little delusional.

calum slips his hand under the hoodie luke's wearing and presses his hand to luke's hip. luke's obviously a liar, because he feels warm, like he might have a fever or something. 

"luke," calum says, pulling his hand away

"yes, calum?" luke laughs a little, calum can tell he's probably grinning.

"you're like, burning up. you're legitimately sick." 

"i feel like crap." luke sighs. 

"lets get some sleep then, okay? just relax and try to sleep, 'm right here if you need me." calum says, lowering his voice to just above a whisper. 

"you're the best, cal." luke yawns, "best friend i could've asked for." 

calum feels his cheeks heat up at that. he doesn't respond, just tightens his arms around luke and presses a quick kiss to the back of his neck, hopefully pulling away before luke could notice. 

luke's breathing evens out quickly, and calum can tell he's asleep. it's one of those little things he just knows right now. he kind of knows luke inside and out. he can tell how luke's feeling just by the slightest facial expression, knows when he feels a little bit uncomfortable or awkward, knows the way luke falls asleep. they've just known each other so long now, that they've both memorized quirks and tiny details about the other. 

calum's got that feeling again, the same one from backstage in nottingham when luke wore his shirt on stage after the water gun fight, except now it's because luke's wearing his hoodie and he's curled up against him asleep and calum doesn't exactly know what to do about this. luke just looks so  _cute_ and calum's never thought that before. he's so confused because it's just a weird thought he's never had before. _luke's cute_. it's kind of like, always been in the back of his mind,  _no falling for your best friend_. he knows how bad this could be.

if what he's feeling is real, it'll be really bad. 

~

calum wakes up the next morning, with a sleeping luke still in his arms, almost like he hasn't moved all night. he still looks cute. calum is still confused. he slips his hand under luke's hoodie again and he's still warm, maybe more than he was last night. 

calum considers just staying there because it would be easier than trying to get out of bed and risking waking luke up. but staying there means dealing with whatever feelings he's tried not to deal with for so long. they've just been sitting in the back of his head for so long and now he's literally been forced to deal with it all overnight. 

he tries pushing it out of his head again, hopes it'll work, and quietly lets go of luke and slips out of bed to take a shower. maybe by the time he gets up luke will be awake and out of his hoodie and calum can forgot that those feelings ever happened.

except he can't forget. because in the shower all he can think about is how luke looked in his hoodie and how luke felt in his arms and  _luke_ and it's just too much. falling for luke was never supposed to be something that legitimately happened. 

he can't stop thinking about it.

so if he quietly pulls one off in the shower, well, nobody has to know. 

when he gets out of the shower, he goes back into his room wearing nothing but a towel wrapped loosely around his waist. luke's awake, making grabby hands at calum like a little kid to come back into bed. 

"i'm naked, luke." calum says, turning around to find track pants to put on, not facing luke. 

"that's never stopped you before." luke frowns. his voice is hoarse, cal can tell he's definitely sick, as if he weren't already sick last night.

"lemme get dressed." calum drops the towel and pulls on underwear and the track pants he pulled from his closet before climbing back into bed with luke. 

he's so screwed. 

**four;**

they headline shows in australia and make it halfway through the american tour before calum's somewhat-suppressed feelings for luke finally come to the surface again. he knew it would happen eventually but he wasn't really ready for it. 

laundry days aren't all that frequent with the boys on tour because between rewearing clothes (as disgusting as that is) and sharing happens quite often. they happen to have one on a day off, so they throw bags of dirty laundry at luke and let him do laundry for the whole band. it's michael's idea, saying that luke is the youngest and he's awkward so he has to do it. it's mean, cal and ash know it's mean, but luke doesn't fight back. so that's that. 

calum's still half asleep when luke leaves, so he gets up a few minutes later, showers and tries to find something clean to put on to go down to the hotel laundry room to keep luke company.

luke's perched on top of the washing machine, sitting indian style, scrolling through what's probably twitter on his phone. he just. he looks cute. 

calum doesn't know how else to describe it anymore. luke is cute. luke is ridiculously attractive and calum doesn't know how to deal with that. 

"want company?" calum asks, leaning against the doorway. 

"oh, hey cal." luke smiles, looking up from his phone. 

it's only then that calum realizes that luke is wearing his shirt. it's that one he has that says anticulture and it's one of his favorites and it just fits luke so well. he's done trying to push back the feelings.  _fuck_ , if all it took was luke wearing one of his shirts one more time for him to just admit every feeling he's ever had to luke. not to anyone yet. but to himself it's okay. 

"c'mere," luke says, "i'm feeling cuddly today. want my favorite cuddle buddy." 

calum smiles and walks over to the washing machine luke's sitting on, leaning forward against it. luke drops his phone in his lap and wraps his arms around calum's neck, pulling him impossible closer. "i should be your only cuddle buddy." calum says quietly, smirking. 

"who said i had other ones?" luke mumbles, resting his head on calum's shoulder. "just said you're my favorite. you're my only too." 

calum smiles. it feels like one of those butterfly habitats they took school field trips to inside his stomach. luke is so close to him. he could literally turn his head and kiss luke. the thought of kissing luke excites him. it scares him too. luke could not kiss him back. that might kill him. that might hurt more than suppressing the feelings in the first place. 

 _i'm gonna do it_ , he thinks. 

_i don't think i can do it._

_i need to do it._

_what if he doesn't kiss me back?_

_just get it over it, kiss him._

_i can't._

that last thought is the one that sticks. _i can't_. maybe eventually, but the risk of losing luke completely is too big. kissing luke would freak him out.  _i can't_. 

cal pulls away from luke's hug after what seems like forever and luke pouts. 

"hey, not fair. come back. cuddle's not over 'til i say so." he says. 

"demanding, aren't we?" calum laughs. 

the moment's over, opportunity wasted and gone. whatever, he'll have another chance. 

he just hopes his second chance will be soon. 

**plus one;**

the feelings don't stop. they never stop. every little thing luke does, it just adds to calum's feelings. he feels like a teenage girl. a teenage girl who has a crush on the captain of the football team. except he's actually not a teenage girl and his captain of the football team is his abnormally tall, endearingly awkward best friend that he probably has no shot with at all. 

luke starts wearing his clothes more. as in, every other day luke is wearing a t shirt of cal's or his beanie or stealing a sweatshirt, and his  _underwear_. 

they're all in such close quarters on the tour bus, it's not unusual for a shirt to get mixed up or something, but the amount of times luke is wearing calum's clothes, it's becoming too much for calum. because he just looks so  _good_. it starts to seem like luke knows exactly what he's doing and how it affects calum.

calum wakes up late one morning, michael and ashton looking for food somewhere near where they're parked, but calum hadn't bothered getting out of his bunk. he knows luke is on the bus too, but he doesn't know just how close. until luke tries to climb into his bunk. 

"cuddle?" luke asks. 

"'m getting up." calum mumbles. he waits for luke to move over before swinging his legs over the edge of the bunk and sliding down and out of it. 

luke's wearing one of his tank tops. for the third day in a row. and his beanie today. it's too much.

"morning, sunshine." luke grins. "cuddle?"  he moves in closer to calum and wraps his arms around calum's waist. his mostly bare waist. he didn't even have time to put a shirt on. 

"do you do this on purpose?" calum asks. 

"do what?" 

_i'm gonna do it._

"wearing my clothes and the cuddles and it's just so fucking cute and attractive and i don't get it and i literally can't take it anymore." calum says in a rush. he pushes luke up against the wall of bunks and kisses him. it's awkward and their teeth kind of clank together and then luke's pulling back a little bit, wrapping his arms around calum's neck. he kisses calum then, it's less awkward now, all soft and gentle and calum's licking into luke's mouth. 

when luke pulls back to catch his breath he's grinning. he pecks calum's lips, then his cheek, his lips again. calum's blushing dark red, smiling, eyes crinkling at the corners. he moves to pull luke into a hug when luke kisses his neck and his collarbones and his lips again. calum's finding it hard to process what's actually happening, hard to  _think_ at all when luke is kissing him.

"you have no idea how long i've wanted you to do that for" luke smirks, leaning in to kiss calum again. 

and yeah, it's been a really long time coming, but calum's glad he finally went for it. 

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed reading! x


End file.
